First 'Poncey' review raves

I didn't expect to get any reviews of "A Time for Poncey" in before the release, but the Midwest Book Review really came through. It is a group that for almost 40 years has reviewed independent books, and is highly respected by libraries and other bibliophiles. The group gave a glowing review of "The Job," so I was hoping for similar results for "Poncey." Here it is:

"A touch of the unusual can revolutionize our perspectives of the world. 'A Time for Poncey - And other Stories out of Skullbone' is a collection of short fiction from Craig Davis, touching on the nature of Southern Gothic culture and exploring our world through a metaphysical lens, providing strange humor and thought equally. 'A Time for Poncey' is a strong pick for short fiction collections."

So thanks to Midwest Book Review - you guys show a thoughtful appreciation for writing that goes beyond genre and formula. The stamps are in the mail.

Story featured at AlfieDog.com

My story "Spinning Wheel" is the featured story this week at AlfieDog.com. It is a newish website offering e-reader short stories for sale, usually pretty cheap. I think "Spinning Wheel" may be the longest they have at 7,500 words, so it's a little more than most. Still, less than a dollar. I'm not sure how viable this business model is, but I thought it was worth trying out with one story.

Regardless of all that, "Spinning Wheel" is about the cycles of abuse that families can go through unless and until one courageous member can break out of it. Southern Gothic writing rife with symbolism and things crawling about under the surface. It will be part of my next collection, but that won't be ready for probably another couple of years, so this is your chance to get a sneak peek.

Just a reminder

Don't forget that "You Can't Count What Isn't There" is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords. It's the opening chapter of "A Time for Poncey - And other Stories out of Skullbone," the awesome collection of Southern Gothic stories coming out on Sept. 1. The writings are based on Ecclesiastes, and told with a hint of humor. More news coming as the release date approaches! Stay tuned!

Sony readers rejoice!

After an inordinate waiting period, "You Can't Count What Isn't There" is now available for Sony readers. Follow this link to get your free copy. It's the first story from "A Time for Poncey - And other Stories out of Skullbone," which will be released for Kindle only on Sept. 1. If you use a Sony reader, you may wonder, why bother with the story if the book is for Kindle only. Well, you can get Kindle reading software for your computer for free, and read the whole book there (cause believe me, you'll want to), so don't be shy!

News for Nooks

The first Poncey story, "You Can't Count What Isn't There," is now up and running at Barnes & Noble. It's completely 100% free. I've also included it in "Wars of the Aoten" at the Kindle store, so go for it. It still hasn't shown up at the Sony book store, which is the last of the major distributors, so stay tuned for that. And that's all I want to say about that.


I will mention that I've just learned the British slang "poncy" means pretentious, which seems to fit.

What a Difference a Day Makes

At the Clarksville Writers Conference, which I attended a couple weeks ago, one of the tips offered by Peggy DeKay, the author of several e-marketing books, was to offer KDP Select titles for free on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. I've had good results from this program, but I've always made my books available on weekends. The first time around I got about 450 downloads of "The Job," and in subsequent promotions would get 200-240 or so. So for this latest promotion I switched from the weekend and tried Thursday-Friday. As a result, 400 copies of "The Job" were downloaded, which is particularly important since I've included a story from "A Time for Poncey" in the updated edition. That's an increase of at least 60% over my other promotions (excluding the initial one). So there are 400 more readers with a copy of both "The Job" and "You Can't Count What Isn't There" to be seen and read and passed around. Look for future promotions to fall at the end of the work week.


In other news, "You Can't Count What Isn't There" is up and running on Kobo. I don't know what a Kobo reader is, but for the thousands of you who use them, today's your lucky day. The story is also available at the iTunes store, for all your iPad and iPhone reading apps, but since you don't get there through the web, I can't give you a link. But here's what it looks like:

You Can't Count What Isn't There

One of the biggest cogs in the publicity machine for "A Time for Poncey" is the first story, "You Can't Count What Isn't There." The story is available at St. Celibart to read online, and in every e-book format you can think of at Smashwords. Absolutely free.

 On top of that, I've included it as a bonus in the Kindle versions of "The Job: Based on a True Story" and "Feallengod." Just go to the end of the book, and there it'll be. I may add it to "Wars of the Aoten" as well, but that's later to be determined. I'll let you know.